ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 25, 2018
Is a Buddhist Praxis Possible?
Charles R. Strain
DePaul University
The question that forms the title of this essay may well
evoke an instant response: “Of course, why not?” This answer assumes a
vague and quite elastic understanding of praxis. Latin American Liberation
theologians saw praxis, to the contrary, as arising from a dialectic of
critical reflection and practice. Following the example of Liberation
Theology, this paper argues the thesis that the pieces of the puzzle of an
adequate critical reflection on Buddhist
praxis exist but they have yet to be put together into a Buddhist theory of
political transformation akin to any number of Liberation Theologies. The
following definition of praxis serves as a heuristic device to examine
engaged Buddhist theoretical contributions to a Buddhist praxis: Praxis is action that is: (1)
symbolically constituted; (2) historically situated; (3) critically
mediated by a social theory; and (4) strategically and politically
directed. After examining each of these components in turn, the
article concludes by asking what might be the “vehicle” of a distinctively
Buddhist praxis.
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